Prospective Property Buyer Warning

A leading property company in Britain warns prospective buyers or renters in the northern part of Cyprus - which is illegally occupied by Turkey – that investing there is an “ultra high-risk strategy”. In May 2005 an analytical report titled “Cyprus: Market And Forecast Report, Property Investment Guide and Market Forecast to Cyprus”, PropertySecrets.net which is part of Jojaffa Ltd, stressed:

“We believe very strongly that the northern part of the island makes for investments that are risky in the extreme. We also believe the North is over-valued by a significant degree. The North has attracted a fair amount of interest over the last couple of years. The main reason is that – and this is undeniable – you can buy fabulous properties there for half the price of the Greek side of the island. But our advice is simple – whatever you hear, don’t be tempted. The old saying is accurate: if a deal sounds too good to be true then it is…Buy in the North and you could face ruin.

The North was illegally occupied (not our view, but the view of the international law) by the Turks. Thousands of Greek Cypriots were forced out, their land and homes grabbed. Sooner or later there will be a political settlement on the island and the original owners of those stolen properties – or their children – are going to demand (and be entitled to) either the properties back or big levels of compensation.

Future political agreements could mean you could be stripped of “your” investment and the property returned to its “rightful” owner”

Moreover, the report refers to Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Offoice warning to prospective property owners in the northern part of Cyprus and underlines:

“Even the Uk government is warning against investing in the North…in other words, if you do buy there now, you could be forced to hand it back to the original owners, with interest, or even be forced to tear down any new building you own and hand back the land. Our view is, investing in the North is an ultra high-risk strategy”